Print and scan sharing paper pick and paper motion control in a multi-function printer

ABSTRACT

A multi-function printer having a compact size and portable configuration while providing printing, scanning and copying functionalities is disclosed herein. The multi-function printer includes a printer assembly and a scanner assembly configured to cooperatively utilize the same pick and paper movement systems along a common feed or paper path to perform these printing, scanning and copying functions. Thus, the disclosed multi-function printer may require a less complex paper movement and control system which, in turn, reduces the printer&#39;s overall weight while increasing its flexibility and/or portability.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/755,665 filed May 30, 2007, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. This patent applicationclaims the priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 60/809,972, filed on Jun. 1, 2006, titled“Print and Scan Sharing Paper Pick and Paper Motion Control in aMulti-function Printer.”

This patent application is related to commonly-assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/755,686, (Attorney Docket No. MP1145) filedconcurrently, titled, “Floating Scan Sensor in a Multi-FunctionPrinter.”

The contents of these patent applications are incorporated herein forall purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to multi-function printers, andmore specifically to compact multi-function printers that include acommon paper path for scanning and printing.

BACKGROUND

Multi-function printers, e.g., printers capable of printing, scanningand/or transmitting a facsimile, are well known. Some multi-functionprinters include a separate printer assembly coupled to a scannerassembly. The printer assembly works in any known manner to producephysical representations of provided data such as, for example, textdocuments, images or combinations thereof. The scanner assembly oftenincludes a flat glass plate upon which an object to be scanned can beplaced or automatically loaded. A scanning device is translated relativeto the flat glass plate and the object to be scanned, and an imagerepresentative of the scanned object is stored into a memory. The storedimage, in turn, is communicated to the printer assembly forreproduction.

Known multi-function printers, while operable for many activities, areoften large enough to make transportation difficult. Moreover, the sizeor footprint of the multi-function printer requires a large amount ofworkspace to easily and effectively utilize the device. These knownmulti-function printers typically include two feed or paper paths tocontrol and direct the movement of paper and other flexible media to theprinter and scanner assemblies. The mechanisms and components of theseduplicate paths increase the overall cost, size and complexity of theseknown multi-function printers.

It would be desirable to provide a multi-function printer having reducedmechanical and electrical complexity and cost. It would further bedesirable to provide a multi-function printer that was portable andsized for efficient use in confined or space limited environments.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides exemplary embodiments of amulti-function printer system, these exemplary embodiments are intendedto highlight and disclose the teachings of the present invention and arenot intended to limit or narrow the scope of protection sought. Theexemplary multi-function printer includes a document feeder configuredto receive a medium, a pick mechanism having a pick roller andconfigured to cooperate with the document feeder. The exemplarymulti-function printer further includes a scanner assembly, a printerassembly, a feed mechanism configured to cooperate with the documentfeeder and the pick roller and a common feed path configured to guidethe medium and defined between the document feeder, the pick roller andthe feed mechanism, wherein the common feed path is shared by thescanner assembly and the printer assembly.

In another embodiment, a method for performing multiple operations on amedia in a multi-function printer is disclosed. The method includesproviding a document feeder having a first end sized to accept the mediaand a second end sized to support the media, and providing a pick rolleraligned adjacent to the second end of the document feeder that isconfigured to engage the media adjacent to the second end. The methodfurther includes aligning a scanner adjacent to the pick roller,providing a print head adjacent to the scanner and the pick roller, andproviding a feed mechanism, the feed mechanism configured to cooperatewith the print head, the pick roller and the scanner to convey the mediaalong a common feed path.

In another embodiment, a multi-function printer includes means forfeeding documents configured to receive a medium, means for pickingdocuments configured to cooperate with to the means for feedingdocument, means for scanning and means for printing. The multi-functionprinter further includes means for conveying documents configured tocooperate with the means for feeding documents and the means for pickingdocuments, and means for guiding the medium along a common feed pathdefined between the means for feeding documents, the means for pickingdocument and the means for conveying documents, wherein the common feedpath is shared by the means for scanning and the means for printing.

In another embodiment, a multi-function printer system includes aprocessor and a memory in communication with the processor such that thememory stores program logic executable by the processor. The programlogic includes a subroutine programmed to control a scanner assembly. asubroutine programmed to control a printer assembly, and a subroutineprogrammed to control a feed mechanism, wherein the feed mechanism isconfigured to feed a medium along a common feed path and wherein thecommon feed path is shared by the scanner assembly and the printerassembly.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention aredescribed in, and will be apparent from, the following DetailedDescription and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art multi-function printer;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a multi-functionprinter constructed in accordance with the teachings of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a simplified cut-away side view of the multi-function printershown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a simplified side view of the multi-function printer shown inFIG. 2;

FIG. 4A is a simplified side view of another embodiment of themulti-function printer shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating one example of the functions orsteps that may be performed during the operation of a multi-functionprinter constructed in accordance with the teachings of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments and concepts discussed herein provide for amulti-function printer having a compact size and portable configurationwhile providing printing, scanning and copying functionalities. Theexemplary multi-function printer includes a printer assembly and ascanner assembly configured to cooperatively utilize the same pick andpaper movement systems along a common feed or paper path to performthese printing, scanning and copying functions. Thus, a multi-functionprinter constructed in accordance with the teaching and disclosureprovided herein may utilize a less complex paper movement and controlsystem which, in turn, reduces the printer's overall weight whileincreasing its flexibility and/or portability.

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art multi-function printer 100. Themulti-function printer 100 includes a printer 102, a scanner 104 and adocument feeder 106. The printer 102 includes a paper tray 108 coupledto a fuser and toner system (not shown), an ink jet delivery system (notshown), or any other type of marking system (not shown). The printer 102includes paper handling and movement systems to transport media from thepaper tray 108 to, for example, the fuser and toner to produce printeddocuments. The scanner 104 and document feeder 106 include duplicatepaper handling and movement systems to transport media positioned in aninput tray 110 of the document feeder 106 for scanning via a flat platescanner (not shown). The scanner 104 and document feeder 106 are shownmounted transversally upon the printer 102 and are configured to sharedata therebetween. However, the mounting of the scanner 104 and documentfeeder 106 is not limited to a transverse orientation, but could beplaced in other orientations such as in sheer-fed facsimile machineswith a scanner path directly above the printer path thereby allowingboth the original and the printed paper to move through the individualpaths in the same orientation and/or at substantially the same time. Inoperation, a document may be transported and scanned via the scanner 104and the document feeder 106. Image data representative of the documentmay be communicated to the printer 102 for storage, printing or furthercommunication to another connected or networked device. If, for example,the image data is to be printed, media is selected from the paper tray108 and transported via the printer's paper handling and movement systemto, for example, the fuser and toner to produce the desired documentcopy or image.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a multi-function printer (MFP) 200constructed in accordance with the teachings and disclosure providedherein. The MFP 200, in this exemplary embodiment, is a portablemulti-function printer configured to print, scan, copy and/or transmitfacsimile copies of documents or images. For example, the MFP 200 mayweigh approximately 5 lbs (approximately 2.3 kgs) and measureapproximately 13 inches in width, 3 inches in height and have a depth ofapproximately 7 inches (approximately 33 cm×7.6 cm×17.8 cm). A device ofthis size is desirable, for example, for professionals or the like whofrequently travel or otherwise work outside of an office wheretransporting a larger device, such as the multi-function printer 100,would be impractical.

The MFP 200 includes a base or housing 202 hingedly coupled to a papersupport or cover 204. In a first or closed position, the cover 204engages the housing 202 in a transportation configuration. In a second,or open position, the cover 204 is pivoted away from the housing 202 to,for example, a 45-degree angle relative to the housing, for use inoperation. The MFP 200 may be configured to feed, print, scan andotherwise handle various sizes and types of documents and media such as:paper, vellum, card stock, transparencies, etc.

In this exemplary embodiment, the base 202 is configured and designed toserve as part of a portable print device, therefore clean and ergonomicstyling may be desirable to facilitate transportation and storage of thedevice. For example, the cover 204 may, in the closed position, provideprotection for the print mechanism housed within the base 202 and/or thecontrols 206 positioned on the base 202. Alternatively, the controls206, which may include, for example, a power button 206 a, indicatorlights or LEDs 206 b, and/or a toggle 206 c, can be positioned on thefront portion of the base 202 for easy access.

The base 202 further includes a media input 208 coupled to a mediaoutlet 210. In this embodiment, the media input 208 is a slot sized toaccept media, paper, etc., and is aligned adjacent to the cover 204. Forexample, when the cover 204 is in the open position, the interiorsurface of the cover 204 smoothly transitions into the media input 208.Thus, any media, such as paper, vellum, etc., placed within the mediainput 208 is smoothly guided and supported along the inner surface ofthe cover 204. The supported media is, in turn, aligned into the desiredposition within the media input 208 and the base 202. Upon execution ofa function such as, for example, printing and/or scanning, the medialoaded via the media input 208 and the cover 204 will be unloaded orejected through the media outlet 210. In this way, media may pass from asubstantially vertical orientation in the document feeder 212, which mayinclude both the cover 204 and the media input 208, through the body 202which houses the multi-function printer componentry, and exits the MFP200 in a substantially horizontal orientation via the media outlet 210.

The body 202 may further include one or more data inputs and dataoutputs. For example, the body 202 includes a card reader 214. The cardreader 214 includes a horizontally aligned slot 216 sized to accept avariety of digital media cards (not shown). The digital media cardscould be, for example, a secure digital (SD) card, a MultiMediaCard(MMC), a SmartMedia card or a CompactFlash card. Digital media cardssuch as these are often available with storage capacities between 8 MB(megabytes) and 4 GB (gigabytes). These media cards are often used tostorage digital images, digital movies or movie clips, audio files, etc.Thus, by aligning and inserting a digital media card into the slot 216of the card reader 214, digital information may be transferred directlyto the MFP 200. Alternatively, the MFP 200 may include: a USB (universalserial bus) connector; an Ethernet connector such as an RJ-45 socket; atelephone or modem connector; a WiFi connector for communicating with awireless local area network (WLAN); and a Bluetooth connector forcommunicating with a personal area network (PAN). Regardless of theinterface chosen, the MFP 200 can be configured to directly accept,convert and process digital images and files for printing, scanning andtransmission.

The cover 204, in cooperation with the media input 208, can act as adocument feeder or organizer 212. The document feeder 212 can, in otherembodiments, be an automatic document feeder that includes a dedicated,integrated paper handling system. The paper handling system couldinclude a separate media movement or drive system as well as springloaded media alignment and registering devices. Alternatively, the cover204 may include one or more adjustable guide bars 218 to align andreference media. These guide bars 218 may laterally traverse alongridges or guides 220, relative to each other, to register the mediaalong a desired edge such as the right edge R of the cover 204. In thisway, the media may be squarely aligned within the media input 208 toreduce or eliminate unwanted scanning or printing skew from or to themedia.

The cover 204, when in the second or closed position, may engage a topportion of the base 202. Alternatively, the cover 204 may flushly engagea recessed portion or pocket 222. The pocket 222 may provide estheticappeal to the base 202 by hiding and smoothing the overall appearance ofthe MFP 200. The pocket 220 may functionally provide protection fromdirt or other contaminants entering the base 202 via the media input 208or other open access path. Similarly, the media outlet 210 may beengaged or protected by an outlet cover 224. The outlet cover 224 can behingedly attached to the base 202 or may simply extend away from thebase 202 and include a flexible barrier (not shown) to providecontaminant protection. The flexible barrier may be, for example,overlapping or non-overlapping strips of plastic or a brush-like mesharrayed over the outlet. The outlet cover 224 may further act as asupplemental media guide for the media traveling through the mediaoutlet 210.

FIG. 3 generally illustrates a simplified, sectional side view of theMFP 200. The sectional side view of the MFP 200 allows normallyenclosed, and hidden, printer componentry to be viewed. It will beunderstood that in the perspective view shown, the body 202 and cover204 of the MFP 200 extend longitudinally into the page.

The MFP 200 includes a pick shaft 300 and pick roller 302 portions ofthe document feeder 212. The pick shaft 300 extends roughly the width ofthe base 202, i.e., the shaft extends longitudinally into the page. Thepick shaft 300 may be a solid or rigid shaft coupled to a drive motor(not shown) housed within the base 202. The pick roller 302 may be asingle sleeve or cylinder that extends along the length of the pickshaft 300. Alternatively, the pick roller 302 may comprise a series ofrings or collars spaced along the length of the pick shaft 300. Whilethis configuration increases the total number of elements thatconstitute the pick roller 302, the amount of raw material necessary toperform the picking function is reduced because the pick roller 302 doesnot extend the entire length of the pick shaft 300.

FIG. 3 illustrates one exemplary embodiment of the MFP 200 with media,e.g., one or more sheets of paper 304, loaded within the media input 208and resting against and supported by the cover 204. For example, if thepaper 304 is A4 paper or 8.5 in.×11 in. paper, then the long edge of thepaper 304 extends into the media input slot. In this arrangement, theshort end of the paper 304 extends into the page and the surface of thepaper 304 rests substantially flushly against the surface of the cover204. A leading edge 304 a of the paper 304 abuts or rests in contactagainst the pick roller 302 when the paper 304 is loaded into thedocument feeder 212 and a retractable spring-loaded pressure plate 406(see FIGS. 4 and 4A) urges the paper 304 into contact with the pickroller 302. In operation, when the drive motor engages and rotates thepick shaft 300, the attached pick roller 302 is engaged and rotated aswell. As the pick shaft 300 and the pick roller 302 rotate, the outersurface of the pick roller 302 frictionally engages the leading edge 304a of the paper 304 and feeds it into a common feed or paper path,identified by the dashed line and the reference identifier P.

The paper 304, once engaged by the pick roller 302, is guided along thecommon feed path P to a first roller 306. The first roller 306 may be adrive roller, e.g., the first roller 306 may be directly or indirectlycoupled to another drive motor to direct and urge the paper 304 alongthe common feed path P. The first roller 306 may be aligned with andcooperatively coupled to a first free roller 308. The first roller 306and the first free roller 308 may be collectively referred to as firstrollers 306, 308. The first free roller 308 can be positioned adjacentto the first roller 306 to engage the paper 304 as it moves along thecommon feed path P. These first rollers 306, 308 may be employed to urgeand provide smooth transitions from the substantially vertical positionadjacent to the pick roller 302 to a substantially horizontal positionalong the common feed path P.

A second roller 310 and a second free roller 312 can be arranged andpositioned away from the first rollers 306, 308. The second roller 310and the second free roller 312 may be collectively referred to as secondrollers 310, 312. The second rollers 310, 312 may be positioned andaligned near the media outlet 210. As with the first roller 306, thesecond roller 310 may be directly or indirectly coupled to a drive motorand operate as a driven roller to urge the paper 304 along the commonfeed path P. The second free roller 312, in turn, may cooperate with thesecond roller 310 to control the movement of the paper 304. As shown inthis exemplary embodiment, the first rollers 306, 308 cooperate with thesecond rollers 310, 312 to support the paper 304 and establish a stableprint area 314.

A print head 316 may be positioned above the print area 314 of theextended paper 304. The print head 316, in this exemplary embodiment,represents an inkjet print head and ink cartridge. However, it will beunderstood that a fuser and a toner cartridge assembly from a laserprinter or any other type of marking system could be utilized withoutdeparting from the teachings of the disclosure presented herein. Thus,it will be further understood that as used herein, the terms printer,print head, printer assembly, etc. can be used to denote inkjetassemblies, laser printer assemblies, dot-matrix printer assembliesand/or any other known ink deposition system. The various printtechnologies and systems disclosed herein may be collectively referredto as the printer assembly 324.

The print head 316 can be slideably mounted to a pair of guide rods 318,320. The guide rods 318, 320 support the print head 316 above the printarea 314 of the paper 304. An alternate embodiment could utilize asingle guide rod with an adjacent sheet metal or plastic guide bararranged to prevent rotation of the print head 316 around the guide rod.This arrangement allows a print orifice 322 aligned above the paper 304to deposit ink or toner upon the paper surface. The print head 316 mayinclude a drive motor to translate the unit along the guide bars 318,320 or may be, for example, coupled to and driven by a belt and pulleyarrangement.

FIGS. 4 and 4A illustrate simplified side views of embodiments of theMFP 200 constructed in accordance with the teachings presented herein.FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of the MFP 200 that includes theprinter assembly 324 mounted substantially adjacent to the scannerassembly 400. The scanner assembly 400 may be, for example, a floatingscanner assembly as disclosed in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No.11/755,686, (Attorney Docket No. MP1145) filed concurrently, titled,“Floating Scan Sensor in a Multi-Function Printer”. The printer assembly324, as discussed above in connection with FIG. 3, is positionedadjacent to the print area 314 defined between the first rollers 306,308 and the second rollers 310, 312. The scanner assembly 400 includes aline scanner 402 mounted substantially adjacent to the pick roller 302.

The line scanner 402 may be a sensor such as a Contact Image Sensor(CIS). The CIS may be a monochrome (black and white) or a color sensordepending on the desired application, etc. The color sensor may includered, green and blue light-emitting diode arrays arranged to illuminatethe image to be scanned. Each color of the array may be activated orturned-on in a predefined or rotating sequence to illuminate the imagein a desired manner. During each activated or on-time of a diode array,the light reflected from the image being scanned is captured by thelight sensing elements of the CIS. The light sensing elements, in turn,generate electrical signals proportional to amount of light received byeach element. The generated electrical signals may be serially scannedout to an analog to digital (A/D) converter to begin image processing.The converted digital values provided by the A/D converter may then bestored in a memory (not shown) for use by the system processor (notshown).

In this exemplary embodiment, the line scanner 402 is aligned andmounted along the angled cover 204 and the media input 208 of thedocument feeder 212 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). The retractable spring-loadedpressure plate 406 is disposed substantially opposite to the linescanner 402 and arranged to urge the media-to-be-scanned 404 into adesirable position relative to the line scanner 402. Thus, ifmedia-to-be-scanned 404 is loaded into the document feeder 212 facingaway from the surface of the cover 204, i.e., towards the line scanner402, the text of images on the media can be scanned, processed oroptically recognized by the line scanner 402. For example, as the pickroller 302 and pick shaft 300 are rotated via the drive motor, themedia-to-be-scanned 404 is frictionally engaged and transported alongthe common feed path P. In other words, as the media-to-be-scanned 404is engaged by the pick roller 302 and enters the common feed path P, theinformation on the media passes beneath the line scanner 402 forprocessing. Thus, by loading the media-to-be-scanned 404 into thedocument feeder 212 and transporting it along the common feed path P,the images and text can be processed by the line scanner 402.

Similarly, as described above, the paper 304 or other media can beloaded into the document feeder 212 and transported along the commonfeed path P for printing at the printing area 314. In this way, the MFP200 can scan images and make prints copies, etc. of stored images and/orinformation utilizing the common feed path P and the same documentfeeder 212 and paper feed and handling mechanisms. It will be understoodthat the scanner assembly 400 may be mounted between the pick roller 302and the print head 316, in order to scan or image themedia-to-be-scanned 404 as it enters the common feed path P, afterleaving contact with the pick roller 302.

FIG. 4A illustrates another embodiment of the MFP 200 including both theintegrated printer assembly 324 and the scanner assembly 400. In thisexemplary embodiment, the scanner assembly 400 is mounted inverted withrespect to the print head 316 and adjacent to the print area 314 and thesecond roller 310. Thus, the media-to-be-scanned 404 travels along thecommon feed path P and is imaged by the line scanner 402 prior toexiting the base 202 via the media outlet 210.

It may be desirable to synchronize the speeds and feeds provided by thefirst and second rollers 306, 310, respectively, with the pick roller302. For example, in order to smoothly convey the media-to-be-scanned404 and/or the paper 304 along the common feed path P, the drive(s)controlling the first and second rollers 306, 310 and the pick roller302 may be activated sequentially. Thus, the pick roller 302 may engageand begin transporting the media-to-be-scanned 404, and the first roller306 may be engaged or rotated so that the handoff between the tworollers can be smoothly executed. By having the two rollersmoving/rotating at the same speed, the media-to-be-scanned 404 and/orthe paper 304 moves smoothly and continuously along the common feed pathP thereby minimizing unwanted jerks and tremors. In a similar manner,the speed and handoff between the first roller 306 and the second roller310 can be controlled. By ensuring continuous movement of themedia-to-be-scanned 404 and the paper 304 along the common feed path P,printing and scanning artifacts or irregularities can be minimized.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating one example of the functions orsteps that may be performed during the operation of the MFP 200. At ablock 500, the desired multi-function printer functions are selected.For example, a print function 500 a may be selected to create hardcopies of stored information, received facsimiles, or informationreceived from a connected device such as a personal computer or personaldigital assistant. Alternatively, a scan function 500 b may be selectedto image or process information from media stored/positioned with thedocument feeder 212.

At block 502, the line scanner 402 can be activated as part of the scanfunction 500 b. Activation of the line scanner 402 may cause a processorto implement program logic stored on a communicatively connected memory.The program logic may include, for example, subroutines to control thescan interval and resolution of the line scanner 402, subroutines toprocess and correct the scanned image, and subroutines to store theprocessed image information in a storage location.

At block 504, the pick drive motor may engage and rotate the pick roller302 and the pick shaft 300. The pick roller 302 may, in turn,frictionally grab the media-to-be-scanned 404. The media-to-be-scanned404 is moved and/or urged along the common feed path P. The movement ofthe media-to-be-scanned 404 causes the information, image and/or textthereon to pass in front of the of the line scanner 402.

At block 506, the information, image and/or text scanned by the linescanner 402 as the media-to-be-scanned 404 passes, may be stored. Atblock 508, the information is stored in a persistent or semi-persistentstorage location for later use and/or processing. The persistent orsemi-persistent storage location may be a memory card such as, an SDcard or a CF card, may be a hard drive or optical storage medium, or anyother known information storage device or medium.

At block 510, the media-to-be-scanned 404 is transported along thecommon feed path P, to allow the line scanner 402 to capture theinformation stored thereon.

At block 512, the rollers 306 and 310 can be sequentially started. Bysequentially starting the roller 306 and 310, these rollers can betraveling at the same radial velocity when the media-to-be-scanned 404is handed off from the pick roller 302 at block 514. Thus, themedia-to-be-scanned 404 will not experience a sudden change in velocityalong the common feed path P. Sudden changes in velocity could result inunwanted movement of the media-to-be-scanned 404 which, in turn, mayresult in scan artifacts or discrepancies being recorded by the linescanner 402.

At block 516, the media-to-be-scanned 404, having been scanned andotherwise processed, can be outputted from the MFP 200 via the mediaoutlet 210.

If, at block 500, the print function 500 a is selected, then the printassembly 324 may be activated. Activation of the print assembly maycause the processor to implement program logic stored on acommunicatively connected memory. The program logic may include, forexample, subroutines to control movement of the print assembly 324,subroutines to process and correct the placement and dispersal of inkand/or toner, and subroutines to manipulate the stored or received imageinformation.

At block 518, the drive motor may engage and rotate the pick roller 302and the pick shaft 300. The pick roller 302 may, in turn, frictionallygrab the paper 304 stored within the document feeder 212. The paper 304is moved and/or urged along the common feed path P.

At block 520, the paper 304 is transported along the common feed path P,to the print area 314.

At block 522, information stored in the persistent or semi-persistentstorage location may be received and/or inputted by the print assembly324 for use. Alternatively, the information may be data transmitted froma communicatively coupled personal computer or other device, or may bereceived directly from the scanner assembly 400, etc.

At block 524, the print assembly 324 and the print head 316 can utilizethe received information to deposit ink or toner onto the paper 304 tocreate a hard copy of the information.

At block 516, the paper 304 processed by the printer assembly 324 can beoutputted from the MFP 200 via the media outlet 210.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be madewithout departing from the teachings of the present invention andwithout diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intendedthat such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.

1. A multi-function printer comprising: a document feeder configured tosupport a medium; a medium advancing device configured to engage themedium and advance the medium from the document feeder to a feed path; ascanner assembly positioned on the feed path and configured to generateimage data from an image on the medium; a printing cartridge positionedon the feed path and configured to deliver a marking material to themedium; and a feeding roller positioned along the feed path andconfigured to advance the medium along the feed path.
 2. Themulti-function printer of claim 1, wherein the medium advancing deviceis a pick member that frictionally engages the medium.
 3. Themulti-function printer of claim 2, wherein the pick member comprises apick roller that extends along a width of the medium.
 4. Themulti-function printer of claim 2, wherein the pick member comprises apick shaft and a collar spaced along the pick shaft.
 5. Themulti-function printer of claim 1, wherein the scanner assembly furthercomprises a contact image sensor including an array of light-emittingdiodes to illuminate the image and an array of light sensing elements togenerate electrical signals proportional to the image data.
 6. Themulti-function printer of claim 1, wherein the document feeder supportsthe scanner assembly.
 7. The multi-function printer of claim 6, furthercomprising: a spring-loaded plate disposed substantially opposite of thescanner assembly and configured to position the medium with respect tothe scanner assembly.
 8. The multi-function printer of claim 1, whereinthe scanner assembly is downstream of the printing cartridge.
 9. Themulti-function printer of claim 1, wherein the scanner assembly ispositioned on a first side of the feed path and the printing cartridgeis positioned on a second side of the feed path.
 10. The multi-functionprinter of claim 9, wherein the feeding roller is a first feedingroller, the multi-function printer comprising: a second feeding roller,wherein the first feeding roller is upstream of the printing cartridgeand the second feeding roller is downstream of the scanner assembly suchthat the first feeding roller and the second feeding roller cooperate tostabilize the medium adjacent to the printing cartridge and adjacent tothe scanner assembly.
 11. The multi-function printer of claim 1, whereinthe scanner assembly is positioned above the feed path and the printingcartridge is positioned above the feed path.
 12. The multi-functionprinter of claim 1, wherein the printing cartridge comprises an inkjetprint head and the marking material is ink.
 13. The multi-functionprinter of claim 1, wherein the printing cartridge comprises a tonercartridge and the marking material is toner for laser printing.
 14. Amethod for performing multiple operations on a medium in amulti-function printer, the method comprising: activating a mediumadvancing device to advance the medium from a document feeder supportingthe medium; and feeding the medium, using a plurality of feedingrollers, along a common feed path including a scanner assemblyconfigured to generate image data from an image of the medium, andincluding a printing cartridge configured to deliver a marking materialto the medium.
 15. The method claim 14, wherein the medium advancingdevice is a pick member that frictionally engages the medium.
 16. Themethod claim 14, wherein the document feeder supports the scannerassembly.
 17. The method claim 14, wherein the scanner assembly ispositioned on a first side of the feed path and the printing cartridgeis positioned on a second side of the feed path.
 18. The method of claim14, further comprising: selecting a scanning function; generating imagedata from the image on the medium fed along the common feed path; andstoring the image data in a memory.
 19. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising: selecting a printing function; receiving image data from anexternal source; and depositing marking material on the medium based onthe image data as the medium is fed along the common feed path.
 20. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising: selecting a scanning function;generating image data; storing the image data in a memory; selecting aprinting function; receiving the image data from the memory; anddepositing marking material on the medium based on the image data.